In 1950, English Electric and Birmingham Railway Carriage and Wagon Company built a total of 19 articulated diesel-electric multiple units for the Egyptian National Railways. The engines, generators, traction motors and control equipment all came from EE, while the bodies and bogies were built by BRCW. Like the later Southern Region DEMUs, called “Thumpers”, they had a turbocharged four-cylinder diesel engine in a compartment behind the cabs. There was a three-car variant with one 400-hp engine on one end and a five-car variant with a total of two engines of the same output on both ends.
They were of lightweight construction and equipped for a dusty climate. Ten sets of the five-car variant were delivered for service between Cairo and Alexandria. They covered the distance of 130 miles or 210 km in two hours and ten minutes. They had compartments of first and second class, with the first class compartment fully air-conditioned. This variant also included a dining car with refrigerator. Nine sets of the three-car variant were used in suburban service which had compartments of second and third class.
